Somalia

Ugandan soldiers serving in Somalia under the African Union mission in Somalia load their machine guns as they zero in their weapons at a range in one of their bases in Mogadishu on May 27, 2009. The UN Security Council on yesterday extended the mandate of AMISOM, the African Union mission struggling to contain the violence in Somalia, which has been wracked by fighting between warring factions for nearly two decades. Somali extremists launched their offensive against the transitional federal government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on May 7, and have maintained their positions in Mogadishu in trenches along streets near the presidential palace. The anti-government Islamists consist mainly of fighters from the Shebab, a homegrown radical group whose leaders are suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, and the Hezb al-Islamiya, another armed organization loyal to hardline opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys Aweys.

Ugandan soldiers serving in Somalia under the African Union mission in Somalia load their machine guns as they zero in their weapons at a range in one of their bases in Mogadishu on May 27, 2009. The UN Security Council on yesterday extended the mandate of AMISOM, the African Union mission struggling to contain the violence in Somalia, which has been wracked by fighting between warring factions for nearly two decades. Somali extremists launched their offensive against the transitional federal government of President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed on May 7, and have maintained their positions in Mogadishu in trenches along streets near the presidential palace. The anti-government Islamists consist mainly of fighters from the Shebab, a homegrown radical group whose leaders are suspected of links to Al-Qaeda, and the Hezb al-Islamiya, another armed organization loyal to hardline opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys Aweys.

Ugandan Army soldiers serving in Somalia under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) look out from a barricaded entry way into a building they use as a base in downtown Mogadishu, on May 26, 2009. More than two weeks of fighting between pro-government forces and insurgents in the Somali capital have left at least 208 people dead and 700 wounded, a government minister said. The latest round of bloodletting in the Somali capital kicked off on May 7 when hardline Islamist groups launched a fresh offensive aimed at removing internationally-backed President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The African Union contingent hold several key strategic place in Mogadishu in support of the Transitional Government.

Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed speaks during a press conference at the Presidential palace in Mogadishu on May 27, 2009. Ahmed today accused Eritrea of arming hardline Islamists fighting to oust his government, a day after his own palace came under a barrage of mortar shells. It is the first time he directly pointed a finger at the small African nation since the eruption early this month of some of the heaviest onslaughts against his four-months-old government.

Residents of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, gather around the body of an alleged African Union peacekeeper killed during clashes with Islamist militants on October 24, 2010. At least 16 people were killed when Somali pro-government forces wrested back a town from Islamist insurgents, as a new southern front piled pressure on the Al-Qaeda-inspired insurgency.

Somalia's President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed speaks during a press conference at the Presidential palace in Mogadishu on May 27, 2009. Ahmed today accused Eritrea of arming hardline Islamists fighting to oust his government, a day after his own palace came under a barrage of mortar shells. It is the first time he directly pointed a finger at the small African nation since the eruption early this month of some of the heaviest onslaughts against his four-months-old government.

The spokesman of the Somalia�s Al-Qaida inspired Shebab group Sheik Ali Mohamoud Rage stands next to the body of an alleged African Union peacekeeper killed during clashes with Islamist militants on October 24, 2010 in Mogadishu. At least 16 people were killed when Somali pro-government forces wrested back a town from Islamist insurgents, as a new southern front piled pressure on the Al-Qaeda-inspired insurgency.

The spokesman of the Somalia�s Al-Qaida inspired Shebab group Sheik Ali Mohamoud Rage stands next to the body of an alleged African Union peacekeeper killed during clashes with Islamist militants on October 24, 2010 in Mogadishu. At least 16 people were killed when Somali pro-government forces wrested back a town from Islamist insurgents, as a new southern front piled pressure on the Al-Qaeda-inspired insurgency.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos (R) welcomes President of the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (L) at the Viana palace in Madrid on September 27, 2010, on the sidelines of the International contact group on Somalia meeting . Representatives of 45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid to consider plans to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia.

Supporters of an Islamic alliance controlling key parts of Somalia attend a rally 16 June 2006 in Mogadishu, after the alliance won the backing of influential clan elders to set up a new system of governance. Supporters of the Islamic alliance protested against foreign interference in Mogadishu, as the Islamists consolidated their authority in areas under their control in southern Somalia, prior to planned talks with the largely powerless and transitional government that is increasingly coming under public criticism.

A man who was injured by a mortar round in Mogadishu is loaded into a pick-up truck on September 16, 2010. Somali insurgents fired mortar rounds Thursday at government buildings in Mogadishu, sparking an exchange that killed at least 12 civilians and wounded dozens, medics and officials said. Insurgents, led by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab group, fired several mortar rounds at the parliament building and the presidential compound, drawing retaliatory fire from the African Union force (AMISOM) protecting the Western-backed transitional administration. The international peacekeeping force in Somalia may need to be almost trebled in coming months to 20,000 troops because of the increased insurgent threat, a UN envoy said Thursday. The envoy, Augustine Mahiga, told the UN Security Council that more international action is needed to stop foreign fighters and weapons getting into Somalia to help the Al-Qaeda Sheban militia.

Somali children drag the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos (R) shakes hands with the President of the Transitional Federal Government of the Somali Republic Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (C) at the Viana palace in Madrid on September 27, 2010, on the sidelines of the International contact group on Somalia meeting . Representatives of 45 nations and international bodies met in Madrid to consider plans to strengthen an African Union peacekeeping force in war-torn Somalia.

A Somali woman tends to her seven year-old son who was wounded by a stray bullet on May 24, 2009 as they sit inside a medical tent that was set up by Ugandan soldiers at one of their bases in Mogadishu, Somalia. Somali Troops attacked the rebels in three positions in southern Mogadishu which they wrested from the government in recent heavy clashes that have killed more than 100 people. Thousands of civilians have been victims of the latest wave of violence in Somalia's capital.

A Somali boy chases another group of children as they drag the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

Somali Salvation democratic Front (SSDF) fitghers, armed, move in their military vehicul, 24 March 1991 in Bufo, 85 kilometers of Mogadiscio. President Siad Barre fled the country in late January 1991. His departure left Somalia in the hands of a number of clan-based guerrilla groups, none of which trusted each other. Since 1991 Somalia has been engulfed in anarchy.

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki looks on during an International Conference in support of the Somali Security Institutions and the African Union Mission in Somalia at the EU headquarters in Brussels on April 23, 2009. The one-day conference is meant to boost Somalia's security forces and provide support to an African peacekeeping mission, but concern was high that the piracy problem might divert resources in the lawless nation.

Somali people watch as the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces is dragged along a street in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

Supporters of an Islamic alliance controlling key parts of Somalia attend a rally 16 June 2006 in Mogadishu, after the alliance won the backing of influential clan elders to set up a new system of governance. Supporters of the Islamic alliance protested against foreign interference in Mogadishu, as the Islamists consolidated their authority in areas under their control in southern Somalia, prior to planned talks with the largely powerless and transitional government that is increasingly coming under public criticism.

A Somali boy tries his best to lift a 100kg sac of food aid distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) to displaced Somalis in the Kalagay village in the town of Jowhar in the lower Shabele region of Somalia, 26 September 2007. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis have been displaced from their home by fighting and violence in and around Somalia's capital Mogadishu and by an unusually dry rain season that decimated seasonal crops.

Somali children drag the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

A Somali boy chases another group of children as they drag the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

Somali Salvation democratic Front (SSDF) fitghers, armed, move in their military vehicul, 24 March 1991 in Bufo, 85 kilometers of Mogadiscio. President Siad Barre fled the country in late January 1991. His departure left Somalia in the hands of a number of clan-based guerrilla groups, none of which trusted each other. Since 1991 Somalia has been engulfed in anarchy.

Picture taken 28 December 2006 shows the body of a Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fighter lying along the road to Burakaba, Somalia, 28 December 2006. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said 28 December his troops, deployed in Somalia to support the weak government, would not stay there for months as they entered the lawless nation's capital Mogadishu. Defying calls by the African Union and the Arab League to withdraw forces without delay, Meles said his soldiers would pull out 'hopefully in the next few days, maybe in the next few weeks, but definately not months.'

A Somali boy chases another group of children as they drag the body of an alleged Somali government soldier that was killed in fighting between extremist hardline islamic militias and Somali government forces in Mogadishu on October 6, 2010. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni called for financial support to increase his country's troop levels in the African Union force in Somalia. Uganda is the mainstay of the African Union mission in Somalia (AMISOM), and has pledged to send in more soldiers for the mission charged with protecting the war-torn country's embattled government.

Indian workers have their lunch aboard a dhow at in Al-Khor -- the Dubai creek, which divides the city in two -- on April 07, 2010. Owners of United Arab Emirates-based trading dhows, facing a wave of pirate attacks, have boycotted trade with Somalia, using their economic leverage there to help free their ships. The roughly week-long embargo, which began at the end of March, contributed to a rise in goods prices in Somalia and has so far helped to secure the release of six captured dhows, a shipowner and an exporter said.

An Ugandan soldier of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) appears behind a window at one of the mission's bases in Mogadishu, on November 24, 2009. Somalia's embattled president appealed to the international community on November 24, to do more to prop up his transitional government, fighting for survival against an Al Qaeda-inspired insurgency.

A picture taken on January 19, 2008 shows a man walking past the old buildings of the Southern Somalia's port town of Merka. Somalia's hardline Shebab group on November 12, 2008 took over the southern port of Merka, a key entry point for food aid, further tightening the Islamists' grip on the war-torn Horn of Africa country. Islamists have made significant military gains in recent months, leaving the embattled western-backed transitional federal government only in control of some parts of the capital Mogadishu and Baidoa, where parliament is seated.

Released British couple Rachel (R) and Paul Chandler stand outside the British Embassy residence in Nairobi on November 14, 2010 after they arrived from Mogadishu following their release by Somali pirates. The freed British couple flew from the town of Adado, Somalia, where their 388-day ordeal came to an end earlier on November 14, to Mogadishu where they were greeted by top government officials. The Chandlers said they were 'happy to be alive' after the Somali pirates who hijacked their yacht near the Seychelles last year released them for a ransom of 750,000 US dollars. From Mogadishu they flew to Nairobi's Wilson airport, where British officials were expected to take them to the high commission for a debriefing and medical treatment.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: A general view before the opening of the trial against Somali priates at Hamburg Regional Court on November 22, 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. A special unit of marines from the Dutch frigate Tromp had arrested ten pirates on April 5 in a spectacular operation in the Gulf of Aden, about 500 miles east of Somalia. After the Somalis had boarded the MS Taipan, a helicopter fired at the ship's bridge and forced the pirates to surrender.

Relatives and friends of slained journalist Bashir Nur Gedi, the head of Shabelle Media Network, the second biggest in the Horn of Africa nation, attend his funeral 20 October 2007 after he was killed in his home in southern Mogadishu.''Men armed with pistols killed Bashir at his home. We do not know why he was killed and who the assailants are, but they shot him several times in the head,' a Shabelle staff member said. So far this year, Somalia ranks as the second deadliest country worldwide after Iraq for journalists, according to CPJ (Committe to Protect Journalists).

Somali women sit on the ground as they patiently wait under the sun outside a military base used by Ugandan peacekeepers on May 25, 2009. Hundreds of Somali men and women come to an outpatient clinic inside the base three times a week to receive free medical care. The Somali capital has been ravaged by 18 years of almost uninterrupted civil conflict and emptied of hundreds of thousands of residents by the violent fighting that followed Ethiopia's 2006 invasion. Somalia has not had a central government since the ouster of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991 which set off an interminable and bloody cycle of clashes between rival factions.

Somali soldiers patrol the streets 20 March 2007 in Mogadishu. African Union peacekeepers reinforced security around the Somali presidential palace 20 March 2007 as the AU security chief held talks in the capital, where guerrilla-style attacks are escalating. Commissioner for Peace and Security Said Djinnit met interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi inside the palace, Villa Somalia, a sprawling landmark in southern Mogadishu often targeted by insurgents. He was also scheduled to assess the AU mission's progress, after a night of fierce artillery duels left at least three people dead near the port where Ugandan AU troops and hardware were finishing their deployment.

The United Nations Secretary General's Special Adviser on Legal Issues related to Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, Jack Lang of France (R) meets with some suspected Somali pirates at the Shimo la Tewa Prison on October 11, 2010.

Frans Barnard, employed as a security consultant by the British charity Save the Children,smiles during a press conference on October 22, 2010 in Nairobi two days after being released by his captors. Bernard was captured on October 14 along with his Somali fixer in Adado, a small town in central Somalia, when heavily-armed men stormed their guest house. He was released on Wednesday following mediation by local clan elders, one of whom told.

Released British couple Rachel (R) and Paul Chandler stand outside the British Embassy residence in Nairobi on November 14, 2010 after they arrived from Mogadishu following their release by Somali pirates. The freed British couple flew from the town of Adado, Somalia, where their 388-day ordeal came to an end earlier on November 14, to Mogadishu where they were greeted by top government officials. The Chandlers said they were 'happy to be alive' after the Somali pirates who hijacked their yacht near the Seychelles last year released them for a ransom of 750,000 US dollars. From Mogadishu they flew to Nairobi's Wilson airport, where British officials were expected to take them to the high commission for a debriefing and medical treatment.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: The accused Somalis and their lawyers are seen before the opening of the trial against Somali pirates at Hamburg Regional Court on November 22, 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. A special unit of marines from the Dutch frigate Tromp had arrested ten pirates on April 5 in a spectacular operation in the Gulf of Aden, about 500 miles east of Somalia. After the Somalis had boarded the MS Taipan, a helicopter fired at the ship's bridge and forced the pirates to surrender.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: Judge Bernd Steinmetz is pictured before the opening of the trial against Somali pirates at Hamburg Regional Court on November 22, 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. A special unit of marines from the Dutch frigate Tromp had arrested ten pirates on April 5 in a spectacular operation in the Gulf of Aden, about 500 miles east of Somalia. After the Somalis had boarded the MS Taipan, a helicopter fired at the ship's bridge and forced the pirates to surrender.

A displaced old woman watches from her tent in Daymarudi Camp 10 December 2007 on the outskirts of Mogadishu. Back-to-back bloody clan battles in Somalia -- now spanning 16 years and worsened by nearly a year of insurgency -- have wiped out basic services in Mogadishu, where the latest clashes 09 December claimed the life of a civilian and wounded three others.

A ten-year-old Somali boy Mohamud (C) cries in pain as he is repositioned in his bed by his father Mohamed (L) and a Burundian peacekeeper (R) at a makeshift clinic at one of the bases of the Burundi Army contingent serving in Mogadishu under the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on May 28, 2009. Mohamud was brought to the free-of-charge clinic four days ago in an effort to be treated for meningitis.

Special Advisor to UN Secretary General for legal affairs related to the Somali piracy, Jack Lang, gestures during a press conference on October 12, 2010 in Nairobi. Lang said today that Kenya needed support in trying Somali pirates captured by foreign navies after indications that Nairobi was unwilling to take in more suspects.'I can understand that Kenya wants the important effort it has undertaken with the international community to be extended, re-enforced and supported by other measures and other countries' Lang said. Some 136 suspected Somali pirates, brought mainly by international navies deployed off Somalia since 2008, are being held in Kenyan prisons and dozens have been sentenced to jail terms.

Frans Barnard, employed as a security consultant by the British charity Save the Children,smiles during a press conference on October 22, 2010 in Nairobi two days after being released by his captors. Bernard was captured on October 14 along with his Somali fixer in Adado, a small town in central Somalia, when heavily-armed men stormed their guest house. He was released on Wednesday following mediation by local clan elders, one of whom told.

HAMBURG, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 22: The accused Somalis and their lawyers are seen before the opening of the trial against Somali pirates at Hamburg Regional Court on November 22, 2010 in Hamburg, Germany. A special unit of marines from the Dutch frigate Tromp had arrested ten pirates on April 5 in a spectacular operation in the Gulf of Aden, about 500 miles east of Somalia. After the Somalis had boarded the MS Taipan, a helicopter fired at the ship's bridge and forced the pirates to surrender.

Sofyia, an elderly woman displaced by violence uses a cane to prop herself up as she walks in Tawakal, a camp for Internally Diplaced People in Galkayo in the northern breakaway state of Puntland on October 17, 2009. The conflict in south and central Somalia is forcing women to flee northwards with their children to safety � a perilous week-long journey by truck that exposes them to armed gangs that assault them sexually and rob their last few possessions. The northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland, with their relative political stability, attract tens of thousands of displaced, depleting still further the scant resources of sometimes unwelcoming local communities.

A Somali boy stands on a wall above a row of makeshift shelters at a camp for Internally Diplaced People (IDP's) in Bossaso in the northern breakaway state of Puntland on October 18, 2009. The conflict in south and central Somalia is forcing Somali's to flee northwards with their children to safety � a perilous week-long journey by truck that exposes them to armed gangs that assault them sexually and rob their last few possessions. The northern regions of Puntland and Somaliland, with their relative political stability, attract tens of thousands of displaced, depleting still further the scant resources of sometimes unwelcoming local communities.

A wounded Somalian woman holds her child as she waits for assistance on May 24, 2009 at a medical center that was set up by Ugandan soldiers at one of their bases in Mogadishu, Somalia. Somali Troops attacked the rebels in three positions in southern Mogadishu which they wrested from the government in recent heavy clashes that have killed more than 100 people.

Somali children look through a hole in a wall, in Bakara Market area 08 December 2007 in Mogadishu. Fighting has been common in Somalia since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, sparking a deadly power struggle in the country. The Ethiopia-backed government is currently battling an insurgency in Mogadishu, blamed on an Islamist movement that was expelled from the country's south and central regions early this year.

Newly arrived Somali refugees stand outside UNHCR registration centre at the Ifo camp in Dadaab, North-Eastern Kenya on September 9, 2010, as the flee fighting between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and armed Islamists in the capital Mogadishu. The United Nations refugee agency voiced alarm over worsening security in Somalia's capital Mogadishu where fighting between forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and armed Islamists has killed more than 230 civilians and wounded at least 400 others and an estimated 23,000 people were displaced by the clashes during the past two weeks.

Frans Barnard, employed as a security consultant by the British charity Save the Children,smiles during a press conference on October 22, 2010 in Nairobi two days after being released by his captors. Bernard was captured on October 14 along with his Somali fixer in Adado, a small town in central Somalia, when heavily-armed men stormed their guest house. He was released on Wednesday following mediation by local clan elders, one of whom told.

Frans Barnard, employed as a security consultant by the British charity Save the Children,smiles during a press conference on October 22, 2010 in Nairobi two days after being released by his captors. Bernard was captured on October 14 along with his Somali fixer in Adado, a small town in central Somalia, when heavily-armed men stormed their guest house. He was released on Wednesday following mediation by local clan elders, one of whom told.